2017 Delta Vineyard Pinot Noir

Delta Vineyard

New Zealand / Marlborough / Delta Vineyard

The Delta Pinot Noir vineyard lies on the south side of Marlborough's Wairau Valley. It was planted to the best Dijon clones in 2002. For this wine, clones 115 and 777 were harvested, then held cold in the winery for four days before fermentation. Fermented with cultured yeasts, and hand plunged up to six to eight times daily. Pressed to tank, settled and then racked off gross lees. Malolactic conversion and maturation in a combination of seasoned French oak and stainless steel.

June, 2019

Gary Walsh

The Wine Front

91 points

Juicy plum and dark cherry, spice tucked in, and a bit of that regional tamarillo tang to go with it, gentle pencilly oak. It’s lively, sappy and bursting with cherry/plum and dried herbs, soft fine-grained tannin, the finish pretty satisfying, and tweaked on exit with some stalky bitterness. Very enjoyable.

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About Delta Vineyard

Delta was founded in 2000 by three prominent wine industry veterans and good mates, who had spent evenings enjoying wine and discussing the potential for exceptional and unique Pinot Noir in Marlborough. Using their collective viticulture and winemaking expertise they found a site that was ideal for growing high-quality Pinot Noir and planted it with selected Dijon clones. They spared no expenses in their Delta venture: investing in the best land and vines; cropping at extremely low levels; hand harvesting with multiple picks throughout the harvest season; and using the best winemaking techniques.Over the last decade and a half it’s fair to say that Delta has redefined the notion of great-value, expressive New Zealand Pinot Noir.

About

Heather moved to Marlborough in 2008 after completing a Master of Science in Psychology at Canterbury University. Her intention was to experience the romance of harvest then move to Melbourne to pursue a career in architectural psychology. Plans changed however when she fell in love with the wine industry and Marlborough. Since basing herself in Marlborough she has completed a Graduate Diploma in Oenology, and has worked harvests for prominent wine companies in Tuscany and California. Heather spent five years as assistant winemaker at a large family wine company before taking on the role of winemaker for The Delta Wine Company. She took the reins as head winemaker in May 2017.
When not working she loves to explore the world, but always loves coming home to Marlborough, where she enjoys sailing in the Marlborough Sounds, rowing on the Wairau River and sharing local food and wines with friends.